Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Six years ago we went on a vegetable journey of a lifetime. A 7 year year old boy named Freddie and his mother faced up to the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. We ate through the alphabet of vegetables...and returned to tell the tale. Join our Great Big Veg Challenge!

Monday, July 07, 2008

Y is for Beef and Yam Stew

I met up with my friend Grace. As Freddie kicked a ball about with her son Delassi, she taught me more about yams. Grace grew up on the south coast of Ghana, her family belonging to the Ewe tribe. By the age of 10 she had learnt how to cook by watching and helping her mother and aunty. Grace explained that yams cook far quicker than potatoes. You can mash them, make yam porridge, deep fry them or chop them up and use them in meat and fish stews. Her advice was to add the diced yams later on in the recipe so that they don't overcook. Back home we made our first Beef and Yam stew, using fresh ginger, garlic and ground cloves. The yams do not have a strong flavour and are better if they can soak up the flavours of meat and spices. Freddie and Alex enjoyed their warm beef stew and they liked the crisp texture of the white yams. Freddie scored the stew 8 out of 10.Beef and Yam StewServes 4:500g stewing steak, cubed1 large onion3 cloves of garlic1 large carrot, finely diced400g white yam400g can of tomatoes2-3 tbsp vegetable oil500g carton of tomato puree or passataHalf a teaspoon of ground cloveHalf a teaspoon of ground cinnamonHalf a teaspoon of mild chilli powder 25g fresh ginger root, gratedSalt and Pepper to season

Roughly chop the onion and place in a food processor with the 3 garlic cloves, ground cloves, cinnamon, freshly grated ginger. Blend together. In a large pan, heat up two tablespoons of oil and add the cubed stewing steak, browning the meat for 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, garlic, cloves, cinnamon and ginger mixture and stir with the meat. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. If the meat is very lean, you may want to add a little more oil into the pan. Add one large carrot, finely chopped with the tomato puree. Turn down the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, so the sauce reduces. Stir occasionally. Add the can of tomatoes and stir in. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring every now and again. Peel the yam well and rinse it well under water. Cut into small cubes. Add to the pan and stir. Cook for another 15 minutes. Serve with rice or flat bread. If you can't buy yams, don't despair - try potatoes, sweet potatoes instead...

7 comments:

Hi: I've been following your vegadventures, and enjoying the journey. Your latest recipe for Beef and Yam Stew: the spices sound so Indian (onion, ginger, garlic and the garam masala spices of cinnamon and cloves, then tomatoes! The only things missing are turmeric and cayenne). Interesting that it's from Ghana; there's more Indian food influences in East rather than West Africa. So glad that Freddie is enjoying the recipes lately; there seems to be nothing below an 8. All best to the finish.